1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tailgate of a pickup truck that can be moved from the rear of the truck bed to the front of the truck bed using a set of rails.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Owners of trucks having open beds behind the cab of the truck often take off the tailgate to avoid the drag which the tailgate creates in highway travel. Truck owners who remove the tailgate notice an increase in gas mileage due to the lessening in drag. After removing the tailgate, some owners replace the metal tailgate with a cargo net that allows air to pass through but serves to keep items inside the bed of the truck. However, certain loads may require the stronger and more durable conventional tailgate. A problem arises if the dismounted tailgate is needed and the truck owner is at an inconvenient distance from where the dismounted tailgate has been stored. Therefore, a need exists for a way to remove a tailgate from its vertical position in the rear of the truck to a convenient stowage position in the truck.
The prior art discloses a variety of inventions for changing the position of the tailgate of a truck. U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,637 (the ""637 patent) discloses a motor driven chain and sprocket device for moving the tailgate from a vertical position in the rear of the truck bed to a horizontal position, or to a slanted spoiler position. In addition, the ""637 patent discloses a horizontal shaft extending through the tailgate that extend into a groove in an inside overlap lip in a side of the truck bed. A pair of disks on each end of the horizontal shafts form a spool for rolling along each of the grooves. U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,265 (the ""265 patent) discloses a tailgate which can be moved from a normal closed position to either a normal open position, or to an elevated horizontal storage. In the ""265 patent the tailgate can be repositioned by pins that can be retracted by operating handles on the tailgate.
The tail gate which meets the needs identified above is a slidable tailgate for a vehicle having a cab wall, a first wall, a second wall and a bed. The slidable tailgate has four pins adapted for extension beyond said tailgate and for retraction within said tailgate by a plurality of handles. Two sets of rails, each of said set having a continuous groove for receiving the extended pins of the slidable tailgate are either built into the first wall and second wall or are attached to the first wall and second wall. The slidable tailgate may operate as a conventional tailgate or it may be moved to a storage position parallel to the cab wall by retraction and engagement of the pins and slidable movement along the rails.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers represent like parts of the invention.